Youth Basketball Observations

After retiring last year from coaching, I have had the chance to see a lot more youth basketball games because I am coaching my child’s team and I am learning more and more about the way the game is being taught at the younger levels. I have to say, thus far, I have mixed opinion but I will reserve judgement for now.

I have been to CDYBL and CYO games for boys and girls and the rules these programs have are interesting, for example in some leagues you cannot play any zone defenses so when the kids get to high school and they face them, they may have difficulty adjusting.

Some leagues do not allow kids to press until the last 4 minutes of a half while others allow no pressing and still others allow full pressing all game.

These rules make it confusing when teams try and play inter-league because making the adjustment can be tough for the kids and coaches.

I wish coaches had to get certified like in soccer because I think it could be beneficial for everyone, player and coach alike.

So, today’s question is (and I am going to reply with my opinions but not steer you in the question) WHAT RULES BENEFIT PLAYER DEVELOPMENT MOST AND WHICH HINDER IT?

Also, what rules have you seen around town make no sense?

I thought I would try a forum today for coaches and fans because I know you have seen a lot of things around town

E, Great question.
You know I have one of the best seats in the house when it comes to local basketball. Whether it be CD, CYO or High School. There are two rules that I thing should be created (or re-created) that should will help the kids (10 thru 14 years old) of CD and CYO. First and foremost, is sportsmanship. Too many(thankfully, still the minority) youth coaches think they are coaching in the NBA and show unsportmanslike conduct to thier kids and parents. If a coach gets a technical for unsportsmanlike conduct, you should sit out a week. Two T’s and you are out for the year. Plain and simple. Secondly, every kid should play equal minutes in every game. Too many times I see kids riding the pine for the first 3 quarters and only see playing time if they are up by 20 with 2 minutes left. The focus should be on developing players both through sportmanship and playing time. Wins and loses shoiuldn’t mean a thing when you are 10 or 11 years old.
I beleive the scenario changes in the upper levels and in HS. Most coaches and players “get it” at that age and there are rules to enforce that.
Just my thoughts.

As a parent of 2 sons that played in the CDYBL and CYO leagues, I have seen a fair number of games in both leagues. The CDYBL does have a playing time rule that coaches adhere to pretty well. I don’t think it is equal time but it does give a good amount of PT to all players. I think the no zone rule is to prevent teams from exploiting size differences (which are exaggerated at the younger levels) by just parking a big man or two in the lane on defense. Another rule that is different in different leagues is whether they count 3s or not. Some do, some don’t – I don’t think CDYBL does (or at least they didn’t when my sons played). I always thought they should count as it is an important part of the game.

Second for Big Dan’s coach rule. I’ve seen some awful behaviour from players and parents too, but some of the coaches’ antics are way over the top. In our CYO (remember, that stands for Catholic Youth Organization!) we had a coach with a habit of stamping out onto the floor and shouting out things like, “God damn it” and “Jesus Christ, that’s shit.” Amongst others. Perhaps he felt that since it was CYO that he should add a religous angle to his profanities? We are talking players in the 10-12 age range when I witnessed that, and it was always loud enough that there was no question that everyone in the gym heard it.

I advocate man to man defense only for up to grade seven or eight. This gives them the basic principle of on ball, off ball, and help defense. On the offensive end it also promotes proper cutting and screening. A good zone defense requires players to have fundamental man defensive principles to cover on ball and off ball assignements. Full court defense is an extension of half court sets. Zones can be taught very easily, if you have a the right system to match your talent, in the eighth grade, freshman ball, or JV in a small school.

I am currently coaching in both CYO and CDYBL. Rules are:
1) Schenectady CYO- zones and full court press are allowed the entire game (it has been this way for the 6 years I have been in the league).
2) CDYBL- 6th and under- man to man only and press the final 2 minutes of game. No 3 point shots
3) CDYBL- 7th and 8th- zones and full court press are allowed the entire game. 3 point shots count

In the younger levels, the full court press causes chaos throughtout the game and makes teaching offensive (or defensive) fundamentals moot. Zone defenses encourage kids to shoot outside what their strength mandates. I think CDYBL is better for the 5th and 6th graders because of this.

7th grade and up- the kids have the speed, court sense and fundamentals to play regulations basketball and they can in both CDYBL and CYO.

Here’s all you need to know in this debate: Right now we care way too much about coaches/parents and satisfying their needs (principally egos) and not enough about kids and their needs. Until the pendulum swings back to focusing on kids having fun and learning the fundamentals of the game, we’ll continue to see coaches/parents focus on winning and strategizing and otherwise treating young kids like they’re playing in the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB. Youth sports performance is a notoriously poor predictor of later athletic success. Let the kids have fun, teach them the game, and leave the strategizing out of the mix(eg., complicated zone defenses and presses etc that are principally about trying to win games instead of teaching fundamentals). Finally, stop playing so many games at the youth level and spend alot more time on practicing fundamentals. If you were in a school classroom and you had a test (a game) every other day and very little teaching of the fundamentals and studying (practices), kids would fail all the tests. We have set kids up for failure in sports by having so many games and so few practices. I regularly go to high school games in this area and what I see is atrocious: Kids who can’t play good man to man help defense, can’t make a good pass, can’t receive a pass, can’t set or use a good screen the right way, can’t shoot the right way, can’t dribble without looking at the ball, can’t shoot with either hand, etc etc. Why? Because they have played a thousand games by the time they reach the varsity level and the youth coaches have been more concerned about winning games than teaching fundamentals. Coaches and parents at the youth level need to get their priorities in order.

I agree with Coach C that Zone Defense should not be allowed until J.V. I coach a modified team and our league allows for Zone defense. Out of the 6 teams we have played, 5 have played a 2-3 zone with very minimal movement. The man in the middle of the zone does not move from underneath the basket. Making it even worse, 3 point shots aren’t allowed!

The biggest problem in todays youth sports alot of moms and dads are reliving there youth thru there kids . There is no more fun in youth sports when was the last time anybody has seen kids shake hands before the start of a girls or boys cyo/aau basketball game (grades 3-8) and there should never be teams that are called A or B teams . what is that telling these kids and everybody knows that most teams are picked because the coach is friends this person and that person . and most of the time the coaches kid is not good enough to be on A team . I know I tell my kids if you want to be a good basketball player practice every chance you get , have fun and show good sportsmanship in camps , practice and games . I also tell my kids there could be a time when you don’t make an A team or you may get cut from a team and that you need to learn things in life are never handed to you just because you play the game of BASKETBALL .

Note: The Times Union is not responsible for posts and comments written by non-staff members.